After 2 deaths, Ikea and government warn about dressers

NEW YORK (AP) – After Ikea chests tipped over and fatally injured two boys, safety regulators say consumers should stop using Ikea’s dressers and chests for children unless the products are mounted to a wall.

The Swedish furniture giant is offering a free kit to help consumers do that. The kit will be available to consumers who bought 27 million chests and dressers above specific heights, including 7 million of Ikea’s Malm chests.

Both the company and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission say the furniture should be kept away from children unless it is anchored to a wall.

Ikea and the CPSC say two boys, both around two years old, were killed in 2014 after Malm chests that had not been secured to walls tipped over and fell on them. The agency and Ikea say they have received 14 reports of Malm chests tipping over, resulting in four injuries. Ikea is aware of three other deaths were reported from other models of chests and drawers that tipped over. Those deaths were described as happening since 1989.

They say consumers shouldn’t use Ikea children’s chests and drawers taller than 23½ inches and adult chests and drawers taller than 29½ inches unless they are securely anchored to the wall.

Ikea and the CPSC said a two-year-old boy in West Chester, Pennsylvania, was fatally pinned against his bed in February 2014 after a Malm 6-drawer chest fell on him, and a 23-month old boy from Snohomish, Washington, died after being trapped beneath a three-drawer Malm chest when it tipped over.

The Malm chests in the repair program have been sold since 2002, and they cost $80 to $200. Ikea says its products are safe when assembled according to instructions.